Wash-board



E. A. KITZMILLER. Wash-Board.

No.- 223,677. Patent ed Jan. 20, 1880..

Fag/ J new: 04." ERW UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDWARD A. KITZMILLER, OF VVILKINS TOWNSHIP, (PITTSBURG P. O.,) ALLEGHENY GOUN TY, PENNSYLVANIA.

WASH-BOARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 223,677, dated January 20, 1880.

Application filed June 30, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, EDWARD A. KITZMIL- LER, of Wilkins township, (Pittsburg P. 0.,)

by declare the following to be a full, clear,

concise, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in wl1ich-like letters indicating like parts Figure 1 is a perspective view of a washboard having its washing or rubbing surface formed of a net-work of wires, and illustrative of my invention. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view, drawn to an enlarged scale, of a portion of the board. taken in the line mac,- and Fi 3 is a transverse section of a part of the board, taken in the line y y.

My invention lelates t-o wash-boards for domestic use; and it consists, in general terms, in the construction of a wash-board having in combination a washing or rubbing surface composed of wires arranged crosswise of each other and interwoven in such way as to form a net-work of meshes of any desired size and form, such as will give a strong, durable, and excellent washing-surface, andhaving also in said combination an edgewise supportingframe, and also a supporting-back, on which the wire mesh-work may rest and by which it will be supported as against material flexure when in actual use. I also prefer that the wires of the mesh-work should be secured to the back by means of recesses in the latter to such extent as to aid in resisting the tendency to vertical displacement of the wires under the rubbing action which takes place in the use of the board.

In the drawings, A represents the frame of a washboard, and B the back, which is held above and below by cross-strips b, which form a part of the frame proper. The usual recess A may be made in any convenient way at the top oft-he frame, for a soap box or holder. This frame-work may be made of any suitable materials and put together in any convenient way. The face of the back B is covered with a sheet of woven, braided, or interlaced wire, a c, which is stretched tight and secured by to the utility and value of the board for washing clothes and lessens materially the tendency of the transverse wires to bend when in use.

I have shown this wire net-work made flat or plane, with the exception of the elevations and depressions made by the crossing of the wires. If preferred, however, other forms may be given to this washing-surface as a surface-that is, it may be made convex or rounding in cross-section, or concave or hollowing; or concave depressions may be made up and down the face on either side of the longitudi-' nal center line, and a rounding ridge formed up and down the center line, over which the clothes will be stretched when rubbing with both hands. In these and other like modifi-. cations the face of the back Bis given a shape corresponding to that desired for the rubbing surface, so as to furnish a better support for the woven wire a a; also, transverse grooves c, or equivalent depressions, may be made in the face of this back, and the wires a, when arranged in line therewith, may rest in such grooves or depressions, thus giving the wires better support and bringing the net-work closer 'to the face of the back, and thereby retarding somewhat the flow of water. Such recesses also prevent effectually all tendency of the transverse wires to move up or down under the-strain imparted to them by the rubbing action thereon when the wash-board is in use.

Other equivalent means may be employed to affix the wires to the supporting-back, and such means should be applied at points distributed over the surface of the board in such number and at such intervals as to prevent the operation to any injurious extent of the bending effect referred to; but such recesses or their, equivalents will be necessary only with thelighter grades of wire.

The back B may be made of suitable sheet metal, corrugated or plain, or of wood or other material suitably grooved or made plain, or having recesses made in its face of such form and arrangement that the projecting points of the wire net-work may lie in such recesses. I consider it within my invention, however, to employ such a recessed or grooved back, in connection with the interwoven wires, for the purpose of retarding the flow of water, even though the wires or any part of them do not rest in such grooves or recesses.

For convenience in illustration I haveshown in the drawings a mesh made by the crossing wires considerably larger in proportion to the size of the board than I should employ under ordinary conditions of use; still the size of these meshes may be varied, and made fine or coarse, as preferred; also, they may be made of various shapes or forms by arranging the wires in different ways. The wire used may be round, oval, flat, or of other form, and of any desired size and material, as copper, iron, or an alloy; but if made of any metal or alloy which is liable to oxidize or rust it should be galvanized or otherwise coated with some nonoxidizing metal or material, and such galvanizin g or coating may be done either before or after weaving or arranging of the wires. In case it is done after the wires are arranged such coating will act as a solder to unite the wires at their points of contact.

While I prefer to arrange the wires on the board as shownthat is, in longitudinal and transverse directions-still they may be differently arranged, so that all the wires shall be at other than a right angle to the sides of the frame and each other; also,comparatively large -sized wire may be arranged in one direction, as transverse or across the board, while smaller-sized wire may be arranged to cross such transverse or larger wire.

While'I have described the wires as interwoven or passing alternately over and under each other. yet I do not limit my invention to that particular arrangement, as they may be interwoven or interlaced in other ways, or they may be looped or twisted around each other at the points of meeting, thus forming meshes of various forms and in various ways, which will give substantially the same rubbing or washing surface as l have herein described.

1 am aware that it is not new to incorporate a fine wire-gauze into a wash-board by stretching the same in the form of a flat bag over an open frame-work, the wire-gauze then being supported only along its edges and by a central bar up and down the middle, whereby it will yield considerably, and is intended to yield considerably under the pressure employed in washing, and such structure is hereby disclaimed.

In order to get such results as I have in view, it is important that the wire mesh-work be supported on or against a practically rigid back throughout its operative rubbing-surface to such extent that the latter shall be subject to no material flexure in the use of the board. Of course, a slight spring or elasticity may be allowed without any substantial'departure from the scope of the present invention.

I am also aware that'it is not new to arrange a series of wires crosswise of the board ith a tay or fastening for the wires up and d wn th nter; but such structure fails to embody the element of a mesh-work which shall constitute the washing-face, and which shall give a washing-surface, roughened or irregular in two directions, which are angular to each other; and this latter element I consider essential to the present invention.

A wire mesh-work resting against a practically rigid back, so as in use to be supported thereby as against a tendency to bend freely below its ordinary desired level, I believe to be new with myself, whether the recesses be used or nor; and such a structure, with or without the recesses, may be incorporated in a washing-machine, and such use is included within the scope of the present invention.

I claim hereinl. A wash-board consisting of a frame, a back, and a rubbing or washing surface composed of a mesh-work of wires crossing each other on the surface of the back, the wires of the crossing meshes resting on or against such back when in use at points distributed over its operative surface, and the ends of the wires being secured to the edges of the back or to the bars of the frame, substantially as set forth.

2. In awash-board, the combination of crossing or intersecting wires on a, forming a meshwork over the entire rubbing-surface of the board, and the back board having recesses c in its face as seats for the wires, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

EDWARD A. KITZMILLER.

Witnesses:

OLAUDIUs L. PARKER, R. H. WHITTLESEY. 

